Steubenville Wins First Ohio Regional Softball Championship
Big Red Will Play In D-II State Tournament
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DUNCAN FALLS -- While being paid a visit by head coach Gus DiMarzio after Unioto had taken the lead, senior ace Jules King delivered a calming message to her veteran skipper.
"I lost my composure there a little bit ... God Bless Jules, she told me, 'Coach, I got you,'" DiMarzio said.
Indeed, she did.
After the calming words, she got out of the inning without any further damage, started a rally that put Big Red on top for good and worked a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the program's first regional championship with a 6-4 victory.
"The kids calmed me down," DiMarzio said. "They made plays behind (King) all day ... we got big hits (from multiple players) .... I'm just so proud of everybody on this team. I could tell you something about what everybody did (Saturday). It was just a total team effort.
"We found out something about our team (Saturday)."
The win, adding to the already surpassed program record, is the 23rd for Big Red and secures the programs first state tournament appearance.
"We knew when they were little, they were competitors," DiMarzio said of his group. "They would always play the older groups and compete and fight and win, so we knew they were competitors. We knew they were kids that were going to battle, and we knew they had a chance (to be a special group).
"Every game on this run it's been somebody different (making a key play)."
King, who's shown an uncanny ability to bounce back throughout the season and in key moments in the postseason, racked up 13 strikeouts and went 4 for 4 at the plate with three runs scored.
Starring at a 4-2 deficit after the Sherman Tanks (24-4) rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth, King led off the bottom half with an infield single, Sophia Zorne's perfectly executed bunt single put two on and Sena Smith, who's two-run single in the first gave Big Red an early lead, getting plunked loaded the bases with no one out.
Paige Matteson then put a ball in play and an error allowed a run to cross and kept the bases full of red jerseys. A Sagan Smarrella pop up dropped between Unioto fielders and plated the tying run, then an Emily Tuttle bunt, an error and some heads-up base running got Matteson across for what proved to be the winning run.
"We could have folded the tents up at 4-2, but we came right back and scored," DiMarzio said. "I'm so proud of these kids. Our kids play hard, and they give everything they have. They're Big Red kids.
"We've talked about fighting and finding a way all year. I've been saying one more run, one more game.
"I thank God these kids believe in what we're doing, and I thank God I have the assistant coaches I have because they do a heck-of-a job.
"I would be nothing without the players ... They're showing up and playing their butts off."
King then worked around a walk to strike out the side in the top of the sixth, tripled and scored on a Smith single in the bottom half for an insurance run and retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to start the celebration and book the trip to Akron.
"I would like to congratulate Steubenville, they played a heck-of-game and (King) is the real deal, she's a heck-of-a-pitcher," Unioto head coach Rob Hull said. "It's a tough pill to swallow for us, but my hats off to them.
"To take the lead and then have one bad inning hurts. Defense has been our key all season long to have the breakdowns we had does hurt, but it was a great ballgame, and it was dog fight down to the end."
AKRON AHEAD
Big Red will play Canfield in the Division II state semifinals at 3 p.m. on Thursday at Firestone Stadium in Akron.
Canfield edged Marlington 2-1 in its regional final on Friday.
Tallmadge and Greenville meet in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The state championship will be played at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Firestone Park.